Clean Water Act

The bipartisan Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2009 was passed out of the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously last week. The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2009 would increase the authorized funding for cleanup of contaminated sediments from $50 million per year to $150 million per year for five years. The act would also increase the authorized funding level for research on new technologies for sediment cleanup from $3 million per year to $5 million per year. "Meeting the challenge of stewardship of the Great Lakes requires concerted and continuing action," U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)

There’s a debate going on in Washington, D.C., right now that could affect the drinking water of 117 million Americans and the air all of us breathe. The provisions to weaken the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act are buried in the U.S. House version of the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the end of the year. What does clean water and clean air have to do with the budget? Absolutely nothing — the budget deficit is being used as cover to mount a reckless and irresponsible sneak attack on the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act that endangers the air we breathe, the water we drink and the wildlife and lands we cherish.

Editor: There's a debate going on in Washington, D.C., right now that could affect the drinking water of 117 million Americans and the air all of us breathe. The provisions to weaken the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act are buried in the U.S. House version of the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the end of the year. What does clean water and clean air have to do with the budget? Absolutely nothing -- the budget deficit is being used as cover to mount a reckless and irresponsible sneak attack on the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act that endangers the air we breathe, the water we drink and the wildlife and lands we cherish.

Congressman Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, with the support of 135 Democrat and Republican members of the House, has urged acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Stephen Johnson not to implement a proposal to allow partially treated human sewage to be dumped into the nation's waterways, including the Great Lakes. Stupak, who made his request in a letter to Johnson, said that if the EPA is unresponsive, he will reintroduce his Sewage Free Waters Act legislation when Congress returns from President's Day. The bill, which Stupak first introduced last year, would block the EPA proposal.

The state's wetlands program would be transferred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, under the budget unanimously reported out of the House Appropriations Environmental Quality Subcommittee on March 31. The budget is predicated on savings of $2.1 million for the general fund, $4 million gross. However, the subcommittee recommendation also includes a boilerplate provision that says the legislature will address the funding needs for the wetlands program if lawmakers don't approve the program transfer to the Environmental Protection Agency by Oct. 1. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality director Steven Chester said he's encouraged that there is this interest by both the House and the Senate to look into the program and to take the time to review options for funding.

To the Editor: Think fracking for natural gas is safe? Here's what Cabot Energy had to say about fracking in its report to the Securities Exchange Commission (2008 10-K disclosure form): “Our business involves a variety of operating risks, including well site blowouts; cratering and explosions; equipment failures; uncontrolled flows of natural gas, oil or well fluids; fires; formations with abnormal pressures; pollution and other environmental risks; and natural disasters.

A new technology for methane g as extraction called horizontal fracking poses huge threats to public health and the environment in Michigan. Enormous volumes of freshwater (2-8 million gallons) and thousands of pounds of dangerous chemicals are forced down wells at high pressure to fracture the rock and free the gas. Forty to 70 percent of the chemicals and water (now contaminated forever) returns to the surface. Called flowback, it must be disposed of in shallow injection wells.

As part of ongoing environmental remediation at Resort Township's East Park, a new water treatment system was put into use in recent weeks. CMS Land Co. put the new system online Oct. 13. It processes seepage collected along the Little Traverse Bay shoreline before the treated water is released back into the bay. The company was able to put new treatment technology to use in the system nearly a year in advance of a deadline set by the Michigan...

Energy alternatives, tolerance are needed now Editor: As I observe the extended debate on the safety of fracking with regards to our fresh water it concerns me that people in our state and national governments choose to ignore the obvious deciding factor in the discussion. The fact that in the 2005 Clean Water Act the energy lobby, in the person of Vice President Dick Cheney, insisted on an exemption from regulation for the process of hydraulic fracturing in the pursuit of oil and natural gas. This industry, and our government, knew what the potential damages could be and did not want the corporations to face the liabilities, with complete disregard for the health of the public.

City of Petoskey fining resident $100 for not putting up siding in a timely fashion Editor: I am writing this letter as it has come to my attention that a resident of this city was asked by the city of Petoskey to put up siding on her home, as I guess they did not like the way it looked. They gave her a time limit but she did not make it in that time, so they fined her $100. I have never heard of this before. Has the city of Petoskey done this to other residents of the city?

To the Editor: Think fracking for natural gas is safe? Here's what Cabot Energy had to say about fracking in its report to the Securities Exchange Commission (2008 10-K disclosure form): “Our business involves a variety of operating risks, including well site blowouts; cratering and explosions; equipment failures; uncontrolled flows of natural gas, oil or well fluids; fires; formations with abnormal pressures; pollution and other environmental risks; and natural disasters.

City of Petoskey fining resident $100 for not putting up siding in a timely fashion Editor: I am writing this letter as it has come to my attention that a resident of this city was asked by the city of Petoskey to put up siding on her home, as I guess they did not like the way it looked. They gave her a time limit but she did not make it in that time, so they fined her $100. I have never heard of this before. Has the city of Petoskey done this to other residents of the city?

Energy alternatives, tolerance are needed now Editor: As I observe the extended debate on the safety of fracking with regards to our fresh water it concerns me that people in our state and national governments choose to ignore the obvious deciding factor in the discussion. The fact that in the 2005 Clean Water Act the energy lobby, in the person of Vice President Dick Cheney, insisted on an exemption from regulation for the process of hydraulic fracturing in the pursuit of oil and natural gas. This industry, and our government, knew what the potential damages could be and did not want the corporations to face the liabilities, with complete disregard for the health of the public.

As part of ongoing environmental remediation at Resort Township's East Park, a new water treatment system was put into use in recent weeks. CMS Land Co. put the new system online Oct. 13. It processes seepage collected along the Little Traverse Bay shoreline before the treated water is released back into the bay. The company was able to put new treatment technology to use in the system nearly a year in advance of a deadline set by the Michigan...

A new technology for methane g as extraction called horizontal fracking poses huge threats to public health and the environment in Michigan. Enormous volumes of freshwater (2-8 million gallons) and thousands of pounds of dangerous chemicals are forced down wells at high pressure to fracture the rock and free the gas. Forty to 70 percent of the chemicals and water (now contaminated forever) returns to the surface. Called flowback, it must be disposed of in shallow injection wells.

There’s a debate going on in Washington, D.C., right now that could affect the drinking water of 117 million Americans and the air all of us breathe. The provisions to weaken the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act are buried in the U.S. House version of the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the end of the year. What does clean water and clean air have to do with the budget? Absolutely nothing — the budget deficit is being used as cover to mount a reckless and irresponsible sneak attack on the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act that endangers the air we breathe, the water we drink and the wildlife and lands we cherish.

Editor: There's a debate going on in Washington, D.C., right now that could affect the drinking water of 117 million Americans and the air all of us breathe. The provisions to weaken the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act are buried in the U.S. House version of the Continuing Resolution to fund the government through the end of the year. What does clean water and clean air have to do with the budget? Absolutely nothing -- the budget deficit is being used as cover to mount a reckless and irresponsible sneak attack on the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act that endangers the air we breathe, the water we drink and the wildlife and lands we cherish.

As Mark Paddock sees it, water is one of Northern Michigan's most important resources. "People had better protect it, or else they'll do away with the reason why they came up here," the Pellston resident said. And through three decades, an organization that Paddock helped found has sought out more and more ways to offer this sort of protection. In the mid '70s, Paddock - who at that time was associate director of the University of Michigan's Pellston biological station - was one of about 10 people taking the first organizational steps for what would become Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

The bipartisan Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2009 was passed out of the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously last week. The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2009 would increase the authorized funding for cleanup of contaminated sediments from $50 million per year to $150 million per year for five years. The act would also increase the authorized funding level for research on new technologies for sediment cleanup from $3 million per year to $5 million per year. "Meeting the challenge of stewardship of the Great Lakes requires concerted and continuing action," U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)

The state's wetlands program would be transferred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, under the budget unanimously reported out of the House Appropriations Environmental Quality Subcommittee on March 31. The budget is predicated on savings of $2.1 million for the general fund, $4 million gross. However, the subcommittee recommendation also includes a boilerplate provision that says the legislature will address the funding needs for the wetlands program if lawmakers don't approve the program transfer to the Environmental Protection Agency by Oct. 1. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality director Steven Chester said he's encouraged that there is this interest by both the House and the Senate to look into the program and to take the time to review options for funding.